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Friday, March 1, 2013

Quick-Fire Review: The Shadowing: Hunted by Adam Slater

Age Range: 12 and upHardcover: 208 pagesPublisher:EgmontUSA (September 13, 2011)Language: EnglishISBN-10: 1606842617ISBN-13: 978-1606842614Buy the book on AmazonOnce every century, the barrier between the human world and the demon realm begins to break down. Creatures gather, anxiously waiting to cross the divide, to bring death and destruction from their world to ours. This time is called The Shadowing.Callum Scott has always known that there is a supernatural world out there—he’s seen ghosts for as long as he can remember. Lately, he’s had visions of children being brutally murdered by a terrifying creature. Then the visions start coming true, and Callum realizes that he’s being hunted, too. Driven by a dark destiny, he must stand against the demons that threaten our world.

And The Shadowing is almost here. . . .

At a Glance:
It has been quite a while since I've last read a good horror book. This is because I typically don't enjoy them. I prefer not being completely terrified while reading a book, but there come times in reader's lives in which they just need some general creepiness in their books.
Okay, maybe I just made that up, but a few days ago, I was in the mood to read some horror. In comes The Shadowing: Hunted.

Cover:

The front cover of this book was definitely one thing that caught my attention. Simple, eerie, pretty much all you need for a scary book.

Action:
I was fairly disappointed with the action in this book. My initial thoughts were that if the main protagonist is a demon who eats children's eyes, that might be a pretty awesome plot. And at the beginning of the book, it had the potential to be a thrilling book. But it kept going and going, leading to an end that was lackluster at best.
Don't get me wrong here; the book was well-written, but lacked many details that would've made it a much more substantial read.

Romance:
Notice that there's no mention of romance in description; that's because there isn't any. I'm not one who often complains about lack of romantic themes, but I felt like a romantic side to the plot would have given it a bit more substance that it really needed.

Hero:
Callum Scott. For a fourteen-year-old who can see dead people, he wasn't a bad character. But besides knowing that he has a creepy sixth sense, he has Spider-Sense whenever he's in danger, and that he lives with his secretive grandmother, you never really learn much about him as a person. He's likable enough, but just because you never learn enough about him to do have any other opinions of him. The little-to-no character development in this book was just one of the things that led to me never really being engrossed with the story.

Something I loved:
I loved the idea of this book. I think it really had the potential to be something I would really enjoy but never quite got there for me.

Something(s) I hated:
The plot spent way too much time building up to a ending that wasn't great in any way.

Cliffhanger?
The ending definitely set up a sequel, but it wasn't a cliffhanger.

Would I recommend it?
If you want a quick, creepy read, this might be something you'd like. But for me, it didn't quite cut it.Rating: